The Detroit Tigers got hit with a slew of injuries, losing three key contributors in a 17-day span in spring training, but so far general manager Dave Dombrowski has successfully patched over the losses with duct tape. (AP file photo/Paul Sancya)
PAUL SANCYA — The Associated Press file

When there was that two-and-a-half-week span in spring training when it seemed like the Detroit Tigers couldn’t turn around without losing another key contributor to injury.

The news came out March 4 that left fielder Andy Dirks was going to miss 12 weeks with back surgery. Twelve days later came the confirmation that shortstop Jose Iglesias was going to miss most of the season with fractures in both shins.

Five days later, fireballing reliever Bruce Rondon, the prospective set-up man, was going to need Tommy John surgery.

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In the span of 17 days, the Tigers had gone from nicely remodeled to having glaring holes everywhere.

And not much time to fix them, with only 10 days to the opener.

People expected general manager Dave Dombrowski — who will always, ALWAYS give credit to owner Mike Ilitch for loosening purse strings when needed — to go on a spending spree.

Instead, the veteran executive shrugged, got out a roll of duct tape and a roll of baling wire, and proceeded to attempt to patch over the problems that way.

Rather than pony up a draft pick and $14 million or so for Stephen Drew, Dombrowski made a couple of minor trades to bolster the internal options at shortstop.

The same day, the Tigers signed Astros castoff J.D. Martinez to an under-the-radar deal, adding a corner outfielder on the cheap.

Then he dusted off his hands and called it good.

People were perplexed.

Some were outraged (especially when they saw Gonzalez try to play defense).

They pointed out — and rightfully so — that the “solutions,” so to speak, were guys who probably weren’t even going to make their respective teams. Or, in Martinez’s case, a guy who couldn’t make the worst team in baseball.

But you know what? For the most part, the duct tape held.

The exception was Gonzalez, who was released on Easter Sunday, nine games into the failed experiment. The Tigers admitted defeat on that one, and called up Danny Worth to pair with Romine, who has been better than expected, once he got job virtually full time.

He’s been very good defensively — not ‘Iglesias’ good, but better range-wise than the Tigers have had at the position in years. His bat still hasn’t made much of an impact, but when he gets on base, he fits perfectly with what the Tigers are trying to do, offensively.

A day after the Tigers pulled the plug on the Gonzalez experiment, they brought up Martinez. He’s given them a credible bat with power to bring off the bench, as well as to spell one of the early season’s biggest surprises — Rajai Davis, who had all but nailed down the left-field job alone in Dirks’ absence.

But there’s still that problem with the bullpen, people rightfully pointed out. Count me as one who thought the Tigers didn’t go far enough in their offseason overhaul of the bullpen, leaving them without enough depth.

Once he is physically ready to be with the big-league club, he may not completely plug the hole left by the loss of Rondon. It’s accepted that pitchers aren’t entirely back to normal until two years out from TJ surgery, and that’s a long way off.

But there’s a potential he could be just what the Tigers need, an experienced, veteran guy to pair with closer Joe Nathan and fellow veteran Joba Chamberlain on the back end.

He could be a serious boon.

And, worst-case scenario, he only cost $3 million.

Romine cost the Tigers a guy that had almost certainly already been passed on the depth chart by Robbie Ray, and probably by guys like Drew VerHagen and Kyle Lobstein. To be honest, Alvarez himself was a duct tape solution from a year earlier, when the Tigers realized how thin their starting depth was, and signed him as a minor-league free agent.

Even Gonzalez, failure though that trade was, merely cost the Tigers a spare part in Lombardozzi, who probably wasn’t going to make the team, once the organization established that he couldn’t play shortstop on an everyday basis. Once the Tigers settled on a platoon of two shortstops to replace Iglesias, there wasn’t room to carry both Lombardozzi and Don Kelly as utility guys and — well, you see that Kelly’s still here.

Martinez was a guy the Tigers had tried to acquire for several years, and didn’t even cost them anything in trade. Just the money to sign him.

Think about that for a minute: By June, when Hanrahan will likely be ready, the Tigers will have at least halfway adequately patched over their three big problems from spring training, and all it’s cost is Lombardozzi, Alvarez and two palatable free-agent contracts.

Even if the Tigers do end up going down the Stephen Drew route at shortstop — and Dombrowski has insisted they’re not going to make long-term commitments at a position where they’ll have Iglesias back next season, worst-case — that’ll only be money, too, once the draft is past.

It might not be ideal.

But duct tape does fix everything. And, for now, it seems to be holding.

Matthew B. Mowery covers the Tigers for Digital First Media. Read his “Out of Left Field” blog at opoutofleftfield.blogspot.com.

About the Author

Detroit Tigers beat writer for The Oakland Press in Pontiac, Michigan. Mowery has spent 19 years covering sports, from preps to pros. He’s been honored with more than 25 awards for writing. Reach the author at matt.mowery@oakpress.com
or follow Matthew B. on Twitter: @MatthewBMowery.